Drum-washing apparatus



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 Sept. 13, 1955 D. G. BALDWINDRUM-WASHING APPARATUS s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 19,

Sept. 13, 1955 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 D. G. BALDWIN DRUM-WASHING APPARATUS24 25 6 85 Z F/G 4 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent DRUM-WASHINGAPPARATUS Donald G. Baldwin, Los Angeles, Calif, assignor, by mesneassignments, to Socony Mobil Oil Company, Inc., a corporation of NewYork Application January 19, 1954, Serial No; 404,915

1 Claim. (Cl. 134-81) This invention relates to apparatus for cleaningthe metallic drums or barrels used as containers for petroleum productsand various other liquids.

In the petroleum industry it is customary, when empty drums are returnedto the refiner or jobber, to cleanse them thoroughly, both inside andout, to inspect them for rust and other damage, and to repaint the outersurfaces before refilling them with a liquid product. A number ofmachines for cleaning the drums have been devised in the past, but fewof them have been capable of washing the interior and exterior surfacesin a single operation and those few have been complex and costly andhave not included provision for keeping the exterior washing solutionseparate from the interior washing solution.

Cleaning the insides of the drums consists principally in removingadhering oil together with such dirt as may have been introduced intothe empty drums. Cleaning the outsides is mainly a matter of removingthe old paint. Hot solutions of caustic soda are excellent for bothpurposes, but a stronger solution is preferred for the outsides of thedrums. Furthermore, even when the two solutions are originally the same,it is desirable to keep them separate because they are recirculated andused repeatedly, and it is preferable that the exterior washingsolution, contaminated with paint, not be used inside the drums.

It is an object of this invention to provide a relatively simple andeffective apparatus for cleaning the inside and outside surfaces ofdrums in a single operation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means for keeping theinterior washing solution separate from the exterior washing solution.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a drum-washingmachine which requires comparatively little effort on the part of theoperating personnel.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the interior of the machine, certain partsbeing represented in section along the line 1-1 of Fig. 3;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the lower part of the machine, taken onthe line 2-2 of Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the lefthand side of the machine, takenon the line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2, in which repeated elements are omittedfrom the background for purposes of clarity; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a portion of the righthand side of themachine, taken on the line 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, the machine is enclosed by a housingconsisting of a circular wall having an opening 11 (Fig. 1) wide enoughto expose two of the drum stations hereinafter described, and a roof 12,the housing being supported by framework members 13-13. At the center ofthe roof is flue 14 within which is on the foundation of the machine.

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mounted spider 15 which serves as the upper support for central column16.

The central column is composed of heavy pipe and fittings, includingupper swivel joint 17 and lower swivel joint 18. The portion between theswivel joints, which is free to rotate, is welded to hub 19 and to bevelgear 20. The latter engages with bevel pinion 21 which is rotated byshaft 22 having belt pulley 23 on its outer end.

A rotating framework is composed of a number of radial beams 24-24 equalto the number of drum stations (fourteen in the illustrated machine).The inner ends of the radial beams are mounted in hub 19, and the outerends are aflixed to ring-plate 25 which rides on rollers 26-26. A pairof bearings 27-27 is mounted on the outer end of each radial beam. Thesesupport axles 28-28 of drum carriages 29-29.

Each drum carriage is composed of four parallel rails 30-30 atfixed toaxle 28. The four rails are tied together at their outer ends by rod 31,attached beneath the carriage, and 'are tied together at their innerends by arcuate angle iron 32, attached above the carriage. The latterserves as a stop, engaging the lower chime of a drum 33. The carriagesare mounted upon their axles in an unbalanced manner; so that they tendto fall inward by their own weight and that of the drums. Bars 34-34,afiixed to radial beams 24-24, are placed to support the inner ends ofthe drum carriages and to hold the carriages at a slight angle, asillustrated in Fig. 3.

An arm 35, carrying a roller 36 is affixed to the axle of each drumcarriage. A plate 37, having upturned ends 38-38, is mounted at doorway11 at a height which causes it to engage rollers 36-36 and to tip thedrum carriages to the position illustrated in Fig. 4.

Each drum station has a drainage conduit 39 for interior washingsolution. As shown in Fig. 3, the upper end of each conduit is situatedimmediately beneath the position occupied by the bunghole of a drumwhich is in place to be washed; so that it receives substantially all ofthe liquid flowing out of the drum. The other end of each drainageconduit discharges into arcuate collecting trough 40, which is astationary element mounted- A circular rotating cover 41 is placed overstationary trough 40.

Two liquids are employed for cleaning the insides of the drums. A rinseliquid, preferably very hot water, is introduced by supply pipe 42 tothe upper part of pipe column 16. It is walled off from the lower partof the column by blind union 43, and flows by way of radial pipe 44 toouter pipe ring 45. A wash liquid, preferably a hot. dilute solution ofcaustic soda, flows by supply pipe 46 to the lower part of centralcolumn 16 and thence by way of radial pipe 47 to inner pipe ring 48.

At eachof the fourteen drum stations a pair of small pipes 49 and 50,controlled by valves 51 and 52, are connected respectively with piperings and 48. Downstream from the valves, the two small pipes join in asingle pipe 53, which passes through a portion of drainage conduit 39and terminates in a nozzle 54 placed so that, with the drum in theposition shown in Fig. 3, the nozzle protrudes into the inside of thedrum through the bunghole, and with the drum in the position shown inFig. 4 the nozzle is clear of the upper surface of the drum carriage.

Valves 51 and 52 and their actuating mechanisms 55 and 56 are supportedby ring plate 57 which rests on radial beams 24-24. Mounted on the floorof the machine, beneath plate 57, is a stationary ring 58 which supportscam rails 59, 60, and 61 (Fig. 2.). The latter rails are arranged tolift the plungers of the valve-actuating mechanisms 5555 and 5656 andthereby to open the associated valves. When a particular valve actuatorpasses beyond the end of the cam rail which engages its plunger; theplunger is returned to its doWnWard position by a spring (notillustrated) and the associated valve is closed.

As regards the cleaning of the insides of the drums, the operation ofthe machine is as follows. The rotating framework and the parts mountedthereon are moved continuously and slowly; one revolution in six minutesis satisfactory. At the loading port, illustrated in Fig. 4, theoperator slides a drum, bunghole down, from roller conveyor 62 onto theempty drum carrier and, observing the operation by means of mirror 63,rotates the drum until the bunghole is directly over nozzle 54. When thenewly loaded carrier passes beyond plate 37, it drops into the positionillustrated in Fig. 3, and after a brief interval the valve-actuatingmechanism 55 associated with that drum carrier comes in contact with camrail 59 and causes the corresponding valve 51 to open. This introduces astrong spray of hot water into the inside of the drum and washes outmost of the oil and dirt within the drum, except that which is stronglyadherent to the surface. The water with entrained oil and dirt flows outof the drum through the bunghole into drainage conduit 39 and thenceinto the first portion 64 of trough 40, which is separated from the mainpart of the trough by Wall 65. The mixed liquid is withdrawn by pipe 66and flows to a sump from which the oil may be recovered by skimming.

This preliminary rinsing with water is of value for prolonging theeffectiveness of the recirculated cleaning solution; however, it may beeliminated except in cases where the drums to be washed contain a highproportion of saponifiable oils, acid materials, or other substancescapable of seriously contaminating the solution.

Valve 51 closes after it passes the end of cam rail 59, and for a briefperiod both valves remain closed while liquid drains out of the drum.Then valve-actuating mechanism 56 comes into contact with cam rail 60and opens valve 52, introducing a spray of hot caustic-soda solution tothe interior of the drum. Cam rail 60 extends around a little more than180 of arc; so that the caustic solution is applied for about threeminutes, sulficient to cleanse the inside of the drum very thoroughly.During this period the drainage flows into the main portion of trough40, from which it is withdrawn by pipe 67, returned to a reserve tank,reheated, and pumped back into pipe 46. Beyond the end of cam rail 60both valves remain closed for another brief drainage period, and thencam rail 61 acts to open valve 51. This introduces a spray of hot waterinto the drum, which serves to rinse out the caustic soda. Most of thedrainage from this rinsing operation flows into basin 68. This water,which is withdrawn by pipe 69, is only slightly alkaline and may bedischarged to a sewer, or may be used to partially replenish causticsolutions.

At the end of cam rail 61 the water is turned off, and shortly roller 36engages plate 37 and tips the carriage and drum into the positionillustrated in Fig. 4. Then bar 70 (Fig. 1) engages the medial portionof the drum and expels the drum from the machine onto a roller conveyornot shown. This leaves the drum carriage empty to receive another dirtydrum at the loading port.

In the usual forms of drums, it is not possible that all of the liquidwithin drain out through the bunghole. The step of sucking out the smallamount of water remaining in the discharged drums may conveniently beassociated with the subsequent operations.

At the same time that the insides of the drums are being cleaned, theoutsides of the drums are being cleaned by a stationary system of pipesand nozzles. This includes upper pipe ring 71 and lower pipe ring 72.These are supplied with hot caustic-soda solution by means of supplypipe 73 having horizontal branch 74 and vertical branch 75, and they aresupplied with hot water by supply pipe 76 having horizontal branch 77and vertical branch 78. The two liquids are kept separate in the upperpipe ring by blind unions 7979 and in the lower pipe ring by blindunions 8080.

A number of sets of three nozzles are connected by piping 8181 to upperpipe ring 71. Each set of nozzles includes an outer nozzle 32 forwashing the outer exterior cylindrical surfaces of the drums, a centralnozzle 83 for washing the upper heads of the drums, and an inner nozzle84 for washing the inner exterior cylindrical surfaces. Lower pipe ring72 is provided with a number of nozzles 8585 for washing the lower headsof the drums. No nozzles are placed in the immediate vicinity of opening11.

After each drum is loaded in the manner described above, it moves in acounterclockwise direction and passes through the spray of hotcaustic-soda solution from nozzles 82, 83, 84, and 85. This solutiondrains into basin 86 from which it is withdrawn by pipe 87, taken to areserve tank, reheated, and pumped back into pipe 73. When the drumspass about two thirds of the way around the machine, they leave thecaustic-soda zone and are then exposed to the rinsing spray of water.The rinse water drains into basin 68, mentioned above.

It has heretofore been thought that drums passing through the spray fromfixed nozzles must be rotated to achieve effective cleaning of the outersurfaces. However, I have found that in the illustrated machinesubstantially all of the old paint may be stripped from the exteriorsurfaces or a portion of them depending on the strength of the causticsoda solution. The portions of the drum surfaces which are approximatelytangent to the radial planes of the machine may escape the full effectof the direct sprays from the nozzles, but they are efficiently cleanedby solution splashed from the adjacent drums.

I claim as my invention:

A machine for cleaning drums which includes: carriers for supportingsaid drums in a bunghole-down position; an array of fixed nozzlespointed toward the positions occupied by the supported drums; means forsupplying cleaning fluids to said fixed nozzles; a collecting basin forrecovering cleaning fluid ejected from said fixed nozzles; means fortransporting said carriers past said fixed nozzles; a nozzle associatedwith each of said carriers and movable therewith, arranged to protrudeinto the interior of the drum supported by said carrier through itsbunghole; means for supplying cleaning fluids to said movable nozzles; adrainage conduit associated with each of said carriers and movabletherewith, having its inlet situated immediately beneath the positionoccupied by the bunghole of the drum supported by said carrier; and acollecting trough for receiving fluid from said drainage conduits.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,115,202 Kimball Apr. 26, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS I 959,876 France Oct.10, 1949

